Four times was the charm in terms of Yorkton Council finally passing a newly revised Traffic Bylaw.
The bylaw which received first reading Nov. 21, 2016, was back before Council Dec. 12, and again Jan. 9, before again hitting the agenda of the regular meeting of Yorkton Council Monday.
The second and third readings were finally passed Monday, but not before a number of amendments were incorporated.
The changes Monday included regarding the 15-Minute Meter fine, Council requested that Administration reduce the fine for a number of offences listed for parking at expired meter, with the fine being reduced to $35 and when paid early the fine is $20, explained René Richard, Director of Engineering & Asset Management.
Administration also reviewed the other fines in Schedule “Y” relating to parking offences. After reviewing the fines further, Administration has reduced a number of the parking offence fines from $50 to $45, and when paid early $30. This puts us in line with Estevan, and lower than Regina and Saskatoon. Fines for offences that may impede safety such as parking too close to a fire hydrant, parking in a driving lane or alley, etc. were not reduced as we want to discourage those infractions, he added.
Regarding parking school buses in the Gallagher Centre parking lot, Council requested that school buses be allowed to park at the Gallagher Centre anytime. Administration reviewed this request and met with Community Development, Parks and Recreation (CDPR) to discuss any concerns they may have. The Director of CDPR had concerns that at times the parking lots may be required for events, etc. relating to the facility, and as such, requested that oversized vehicACde of the “downtown parking” area, this would fall outside of the downtown parking enforcement officer’s duties and therefore would be a different level of service. Administration suggests that a separate zone be created for businesses on the fringe of the downtown parking area in order to address this request. Administration would suggest that the Bylaw be approved without this change to provide additional time to review other businesses that may be located in this newly created zone and what parking restrictions would best suite these areas. An amendment to the Traffic Bylaw would be brought forward to Council later in 2017 to create this separate zone,” was also detailed in a report circulated to Council.
“Council also commented on parking availability at the Godfrey Dean Art Gallery. The Proposed Traffic Bylaw gives the City Manager Designate the authority to create Loading Zones, change placement of parking meters, etc. As such, Administration suggests that once the Proposed Traffic Bylaw is adopted, Administration can review the parking needs with the Godfrey Dean Art Gallery staff to determine how best to address any concerns they may have.”
A number of other technical and housekeeping elements were also part of the approved amendments.
Now that the bylaw has been passed by Council it will progress to the province for final approvals, a process likely to take several weeks.
